Customer Reviews

Venus Envy: Power Games, Teenage Vixens, and Million-Dollar Egos on the Women's Tennis Tour

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This book is good to learn about the tennis tour in general and how the business is changing. However when it comes to the actual players, you only get a glimpse of them. Since it is not a bio of any of the players, that may be too much to ask. Tennis fans who follow the writer's online column may not get much more insight into the game. However newcomers may find it informative. I liked the book but it didn't go into the hard issues on the tour such as coaches who have affairs with the players and what should be done. Burn out, parent/coach abuse, public pressure, big money, girls supporting their families, etc. You get a small overview of these problems. At the very least parents should read it if they want their kids to become pro atheletes.

A must read for anyone who wants to learn more about the players and personalities in the women's tennis world. I also learned a great deal about the women's tennis circuit. Very quick read and quite enjoyable.

Do not buy this book if you are looking for something deep or substantive. This is popular-pulp people-magazine style reporting. And I loved it!

The glamour girls of women's tennis get the elongated Sports Illustrated treatment. Given the racy racy title of this book, a reader might expect juicy gossip about the private lives of these star athletes. Otherwise, one might expect a deeper look at the Women's tennis tour and exciting blow-by-blow action.

What the reader gets is a recap of the major tournaments during the 2000 season (Wimbledon, French, Open, US Open, Indian Wells mostly)with some background on the more prominent of the racket stars. SI Tennis columnist Jon Wertheim gives us some acquaintance with Lindsay Davenport, Martina Hingis, Monica Seles, some minor stars and, of course, the Williams Sisters Venus and Serena.

Wertheim chronicles the influence of meddlesome parents. He explains the shortcomings of the World Tennis Association. And he even quotes outrageous allegations of lesbianism and widespread promiscuity among the women players. But he sheds no light on those allegations and lets the allegations fall flat. They would have been better unmentioned.

The tennis itself would have had more punch had the author described the mastery these players possess. Instead, his focus was on the athletes' dislike of other athletes and the petty bickerings that these emotions caused. He colors those bickerings with unspoken racism against the Williams sisters.

These women are world class athletes. And 2000 was the year that Venus Williams blossomed into the power she is today. More effort could have been spent on what caused her dominance aside from her size and musculature.

This book is not necessarily a bad book. It merely misses its potential. There are some good, yet shallow portrayals of some of tennis' top women. But that isn't enough to pull this book over the hump.

Given it's title, I thought this book would be about Venus Williams. She is mentioned throughout, and the focus of the last two chapters. But its by no means a book about her.

Instead Wertheim toggles back and forth through a variety of the top tour players. Some gossip-filled sections were entertaining. I made myself finish it.